The Brookhaven leader. [volume] (Brookhaven, Miss.) 1883-1891, 1887-05-05

"Sir. want to serve you; ] want to
oblioe YOU: IL is from no lack OF Industry
on my part, but this thing seems to me 10
be wrong, and 1t is a sin against my con-
science. 10 Is a sin against God, ana
beg you, sir to excuse me-"
He may flush up and swear, but he Will
cool down, and he will have more admira'
ton for you than for those who submit 70
his evil dictation; and while they sink
you will rise. Do not, because Of seem
ing temporary adversely, give up your
character, young man. Under God, that
is the only thing you have to build on.
Give up that. you give up every thing.
That employer asks young man to hurt
himself for time and for eternity who ex-
poets him to make a wrong entry, or
change an in voice, or say goods cost so
much when they cost less, or impose upon
the verdancy of a customer, or mlsrepre-
sent style of fabric. How dare he de-
mand of you any thing 50 insolent!
Magnanimity superb! They stole the
luster from his eye, and the color from
his cheek, and the honor from his soul,
and then they kicked him out. II such
professed Christian merchants do not go
straight to hell, don't know any use OF
having such a place o, young men, dis
appoint the expectation of that firm; dis
appoint those customers if these things
| are expected of you. You may sell an
| extra case of goods, you may sell an extra
roll of silk, but the trouble is you may
have TO throw your soul to boot In the
bargain.
Again, | counsel all clerks 20 cong uer
the trials of their particular position. One
great trial for clerks is the inconsidera-
tion of customers. There are people who
are entirely polite everywhere eisc, but
gruff and dictatoral AMI contemplate
when they come into a store to buy any
thing. There are thousands of men and
women who GO from store to store to price
things, without dny idea Of purch ase.
They are not satisfied until every roll OF
goods is brought down, and they
have pointed out all the real or
imaginary defects. They try on all
kinds of kid gloves and stretch
| them out of shape, and they
put on all styles of cloaks and walk to the
mirror to sec how it would look, and then
they sail out of the store, saying: II will
not take it to-day" which means: Il don't
want it at ALL" leaving the clerk amid a
confusion of ribbons, and laces, and cloths,
| to smooth 500 worth of goods-not one
| cent of which did that man or woman buy
| or intend TO buy. Now | call that DIS
| honesty on the part of the customer If
| bov runs into store and takes a roll of
cloth off the counter and sneaks out into
the street. you all join in the cry pell !:
Stop thiefn' When | see you go into a
store not expecting to buy anything but
| to price things, stealing the tune of the
| clerk and stealing the time OF his en-
ployer, say, too: ''Stop thiefn flwere
asked which class of persons most need
4 1t,
would say: Dry goods clerks" All the
Indignation of customers about the high
| prices comes on the clerk. For instance: ::
A great war comes. The manufac tories
are closed The people go of to battle
The price of goods runs up. A customer
| comes into store. Goods have gone up.
How much is that worth''
"a dollar"
| "A dollar! Outrageous A dollarr
| Why, who is to blame for the fact that
it has got to be dollar! Does the indig
nation go out to the manufacturers on the
| banks of the Merrimac. because they have
closed up! No. Does the Indignation go
| out toward the employee, who is out at his
| country seat. No. 1t comes on the clerk.
He got up the war; He levied the taxes :.
| He puts up the rents! OF course it's the
clerk:
| TIE PARSIMONIOUS SIDE.
| Then great trial comes to the clerks in
the fact that they see the parsimoni Gus
side of human nature. You talk about
| lies behind the counter-there are just as
many lies before the counter. Augustine
speaks of a man who advertised that he
would, on certain occasion, tell the peo-
pie what was in their hearts A great
crowd assembled, and he stepped to the
front and said:
| II will tell you what is in your hearts
| To buy cheap and sell dear!'
| o, people of Brooklyl, lay not aside
your urbanity when you come into a store.
Treat the clerks like gentlemen and ladies
proving yourself to be gentleman or
| lady. Remember, that if the prices are
| high and your purse is lean, that is no
| fault of the clerks. And if you have a son
| or daughter amid those perpleXities of
commercial life, and such one comes
| home all worn out, be lenient and know
that the martyr at the stake no more cer-
tainly needs the grace of God than our
young people amid the seven-t.mes heated
exasperations of a clerks life.
Then there are all the trials which
| come to clerks from the treat ment of in
considerate employers. There are pro-
| fessed Christian men in this city who have
| no more regard for their clerks than they
have for the scales on which the sugars
! are weighed. A clerk is no more than SO
much store furniture. No consideration
| for their rights or their interests. Not one
word of encouragement from sunrise to
sunset, nor from January to December.
But when any thing goes wrong-a streak
| of dust on the counter, or a box with the
cover off-thunier showers of sco.ding
| Men INN arinuS CanririOuS cranky To-
ward their clerks-their whole manner as
| much as to say:
| "All the interest have in you is to see
| what can get out of you.n
Then there are all the trials of incom-
petent wages. Some of. you remem ber
when the war broke out and all mer-
| chandise went up, and merchants were
made mlllionaires in six months by the
| simple rise in the value of goods Did the
clerk get advantage of that rise. Some
times, not always. l saw estates gathered
| in those times over which the curse of
God has hung ever since The cry of un-
paid men and women in these stores
reached the Lord of S"baoth and
the indignation of God has been
around those establishments ever
| since; rumbling in the car
riage wheels, flashing in the chandeliers,
| glowing from the crimson upholstery,
laundering in the long roll of the ten pin
alley. Such men may build up palaces OF
merchandise heaven high, but after
| awhile disaster will come, and will put
one hand on this pillar, and another hand
on that pillar, and throw itself forward
until down will como the whole structure,
crushing the worshipers as grapes are
mashed in a wine-press.